What Is a Brand? A Seminar at AREA358 and Five Closing Questions

I recently spoke at a branding seminar at AREA358 in Honjo, Saitama, Japan. My thanks to the owner, Yokobori, for making this opportunity possible, and to everyone who attended.

The seminar covered the definition of a brand, brand awareness, and how branding works.

A concern raised in many questionnaire responses

Many responses expressed difficulty communicating the appeal and strengths of their own businesses.

Reading these responses led me to ask: is this only a matter of finding the right words?

We may feel that we know our own company well. Yet when asked what customers value about us, or why they choose us over other options, our answers can be less clear than we expect.

The questionnaire alone cannot establish the causes. Still, I would begin by revisiting three areas:

• Know your customers. What problems do they face, what do they expect, and why do they choose you?
• Know the competition. Which alternatives do customers compare you with, and where do the differences lie?
• Know your own business. What value can you deliver, and what in your day-to-day work supports it?

Connect what you learn to management decisions

The following is my reflection on the questionnaire responses.

Listen to customers. Examine what competitors offer. Review your own work. But gathering information should not be the endpoint.

Separate what customers actually said from your own interpretation. Then consider whose problems you will address and what will give them a reason to choose you. You also need to examine whether your team and the economics of the work allow you to keep delivering on that promise.

I want the words we use to communicate our strengths to connect with those decisions. When impressive language is not backed by actual delivery, a gap can develop between what customers expect and what they receive.

For a practical approach to these conversations, see How B2B Companies Can Ask Customers Why They Were Chosen.

Five questions to close the seminar

I closed the seminar by asking the participants five questions:

• Who are the customers who value you most?
• What are those customers dissatisfied with, and what ideal outcome do they want to achieve?
• How will you help them achieve it?
• Why should those customers choose you?
• What evidence supports that reason?

When we think about communicating our business's appeal and strengths, it is tempting to list our own features. But I would start with the customers who need and value what we offer.

What can we deliver to address their frustrations and aspirations? What facts can we show to support their reason for choosing us?

You do not need to answer everything immediately. A question you cannot yet answer can be the starting point for your next inquiry.

I hope the seminar offered an opportunity to reconsider the relationship between your business and its customers.

If you would like to connect your value proposition with management decisions and everyday operations, please see HUV DESIGN OFFICE's services.

Thank you again to Yokobori and everyone who joined us.

Author: Daisuke Irikura, Representative Director, HUV DESIGN OFFICE